Marc, Pam and Elise's Blog: Turkey 2

We are settled in Antalya in our apartment, 20 minutes from the climbing area. Our two days in Istanbul were exhausting, but well worth the effort. The historic sites were amazing. We have had a tough time adjusting to the new time zone (we are 10 hours ahead of Squamish), but after one week, we seem to be almost normal again. Since my time is precious these days, I'm going to let the photos do the talking as opposed to writing a long-winded account of our explorations. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Elise in the Frankfurt airport. Note the pink Disney "carry on" luggage.

First dinner in Istanbul. The jet lag has not yet set in.

This is NOT the Blue Mosque. The first day we were there was very cloudy and my pictures were poor.

The Blue Mosque.

The men's prayer area in the Blue Mosque.

It was a tad crowded.

Pam and Elise in front of the Blue Mosque.

With a friendly shop owner. Elise got a lot of free Turkish delight during our first walk around.

Inside Aya Sofya, the second major landmark we visited.

There were some incredible mosaics.

The reason Elise came to Turkey: Turkish delight! This is pistachio, a local's favourite.

Street vendors were everywhere. We had some incredible fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

Elise on the bridge that spans the Bosphorous Strait, which seperates Europe from Asia. There were hundreds of men fishing. Elise had to inspect EVERY bucket to study their catch. We joked that she was acting like she had terrettes syndrome because she had to touch every bucket. One enthusiastic lady lifted a fish, kissed it on the lips and offered it to Elise who DID THE SAME!!! I couldn't get my camera out fast enough, though.

Turtle at the bazaar.

The famous Spice Bazaar.

We took a ferry out on the strait at night. It was a great way to see the city and we spotted hundreds of jellyfish in the sea, much to Elise's delight. We ate at a restaurant on the other side.